Corona and Home Office in Germany: What companies need to watch out for
Due to the Corona pandemic, a large number of companies have sent their employees into the home office. For this reason, the federal government is planning to introduce a Mobile Work Act so that reliable legal framework conditions are created for employees in the home office as well.
As more and more people work from home, the importance of location-independent offers from the SAAS sector is also increasing to a great extent, which is why companies should definitely take a closer look at the possibilities of software-as-a-service offers. The following article shows what else needs to be considered with regard to home office regulations.
Home Office Law: Neither Obligation nor Entitlement
In the Federal Republic of Germany, employees do not yet have a legal right to a home office. Thus, the decision as to whether employees are allowed to work from home is still on the employer's side. In principle, therefore, employees cannot demand that their company allow them to carry out their work from the home office.
The Ministry of Labour does not want to fundamentally change this state of affairs. Thus, a legal right to a home office is not planned for the future. However, the recently presented draft bill provides for the introduction of a legal obligation to discuss the matter. Through this, employees and employers would have to discuss the possibilities for working from home and thus ideally reach a mutually satisfactory agreement.
Duty to work from home due to the pandemic
However, in order to reduce the risk of infection for employees and to contain the spread of the Coronavirus, there is currently an obligation in Germany for companies to allow employees to work from home if this is feasible.
In addition, there is also an obligation for employees to accept the offer of working from home.
Legal requirements for the home office
It is important for employers, both inside and outside the pandemic, to be aware of the labor law requirements regarding home office. For example, the regulations on working hours, data protection, and occupational health and safety must of course also be complied with when employees carry out their work from home.
Within the framework of the Working Hours Act, employees must also comply with the regulations on rest periods, breaks, maximum working hours, and the prohibition of work on Sundays and public holidays in the home office. The employer must point out these regulations and also establish a suitable time recording model.
Occupational health and safety must also be ensured at all times in the home office. Thus, the employer must carry out an identification of the necessary occupational health and safety measures as well as a risk assessment. This does not mean that the home office must be inspected, but a precise survey of the circumstances and instruction of the employees in accordance with the requirements of the Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health for work equipment is necessary.
With regard to data protection and IT security, the requirements in the home office are particularly high. Thus, the employer has the obligation to take appropriate data protection precautions when setting up the home office. In addition, the company must ensure that the employee continuously complies with the data protection requirements while working from home. The employee must thus ensure that no one other than him/herself has access to his/her mobile phone, PC, or confidential company data.
To make the data transfer secure, it is possible, for example, to set up a VPN connection. The storage of data must also be secure at all times. This means that all data is stored on a server that is located in the company.
